Local Officials Push Back Against Acting Secret Service Director’s Claims: ‘Not Going to Take Unnecessary Blame’
Local police officials involved in handling security for a rally where former President Donald Trump was shot on July 13 are disputing claims made by the Secret Service regarding the circumstances that led to the incident. During a Senate hearing, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. suggested that local law enforcement had adequate oversight of the event, asserting that the failure to secure the roof from which the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired, was not the Secret Service’s fault. He described the event as a “failure of imagination” regarding the potential threats to protectees.
Conversely, officials from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, including Commander Patrick Young and District Attorney Nathan Bible, contended that their sniper teams were deployed as directed and that they did not receive adequate visibility on the roof used by Crooks. Bible emphasized that if they had been instructed to position snipers on the roof, it would have been done without hesitation. The local officials expressed frustration at being blamed for security failures, arguing that they were positioned according to the Secret Service’s instructions and were prepared to act if needed.
Rowe also stated that the Secret Service received no alerts about any suspicious individuals at the rally, which contradicts reports suggesting that local officers had notified command about Crooks prior to the shooting. The conflicting accounts from the Secret Service and local law enforcement have raised tensions, with officials asserting that their snipers performed well under the circumstances and should not bear the responsibility for the failures that occurred.
Officials from local police units assigned to the July 13 rally at which former President Donald Trump was shot are pushing back against the Secret Service’s tactic of deflecting blame for security lapses at the rally.
In a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. indicated that the failure to secure the roof from which Thomas Matthew Crooks fired on Trump was not the fault of the Secret Service, according to The Washington Post.
“I cannot understand why there was not better coverage,” Rowe said. “I think this was a failure of imagination, a failure to imagine that we actually do live in a very dangerous world where people do actually want to do harm to our protectees.”
Rowe said the Secret Service believed local law enforcement had “sufficient eyes” on the outer area of the rally
“We assumed that the state and locals had it,” Rowe said.
Commander of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit Patrick Young and Beaver County District Attorney Nathan Bible told Fox News that their snipers did as they were ordered to do.
Young said a sniper team, which included one sniper from Butler County and one from Beaver County, “were in place by Butler County ESU, which I assume was with the approval of Secret Service.”
“Their assignments that day (were) to be clearly defined and in no uncertain terms,” Young said. “Their areas included the entry control point, the area before and after the magneton monitor and then the area in front of the stage. Those are all within the interior and secure perimeter as defined by the Secret Service. That was their locations … and their priority.”
Young said one of the snipers d a text with a picture of Crooks in an effort to alert others.
The Beaver County sniper later left his position to follow Crooks after he saw Crooks grab a backpack and move out of view.
The Beaver County sniper searched for Crooks while the second sniper remained at his post.
Bible said the location the snipers were assigned did not give them a good view of the roof Crooks used as a place from which to shoot Trump.
“Our guys were in a covert sniper position, you know. They’re set back a couple feet from the window,” Bible said. “So, you know, in order to see on that roof, they would have had to hang out, hang outside, and in doing so, give up their position.”
Bible added that if local officials were told to put snipers on the roof Crooks used they would have done so.
He said the snipers are upset at being faulted for what took place.
“It’s less about them getting credit … for the amazing job they did that day,” Bible said. “But they’re certainly not going to take unnecessary blame.”
“So, I do feel like … they are a little bit upset about the way that some of the information has been disseminated. But certainly … they have a job to do, and you know if they’re asked to do it again, I’m sure that they will,” he said.
In his appearance before senators, Rowe said the Secret Service was never informed about a suspicious person at the rally.
That contradicts a report from The New York Times that said based upon a review of text messages from that day, “[a] Beaver County countersniper d two photos of Mr. Crooks with his colleagues at 5:38 p.m., which were then relayed to the Secret Service, through a series of steps in the command center.”
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
